A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Surpassing, adv. [e.m.E. surpassinge ppl. adj. (c1580), surpassing adv. (1598); Surpas v.] Particularly, outstandingly. —1632 Lithgow Trav. iii 106.
[In Orkney and Shetland] you shall alwaies finde … surpassing fine aqua-vitæ, [etc.] Urquhart Rabelais ii ix 59.
A young man … surpassing handsome in all the lineaments of his body
